Toss the dice, murdered thrice
by Toraptor
Summary: Lea was a professional at many things. Arson, hiking, baking, murder, and changing his mind at the last minute. [Hitman!Lea AU]


**notes: this takes place in the same universe, with keyblades and magic and such, but Lea has a slightly bigger secret. And a body count. **

* * *

_Toss the dice, murdered thrice_

It was looking to be a good day for pizza. Lea thumbed at his phone, tapping his feet along to a tune that had been stuck in his head for several hours now, considering whether or not he wanted peperoni. He yawned, arching his back in a cat-like stretch, scrolling through the pictures of pizza.

He ordered a medium, so there'd be extra should anyone else want a piece.

Minding the scattered books on the library floor, Lea crossed the room and flopped in a chair, kicking his legs up on a table. With the pizza out of the way, he dialed another number, grinning despite the fact it couldn't be seen. He had every reason to feel cheerful, as he'd not only gotten the cake; he'd eaten it, too.

"Yo, boss," he said, giddy. "Guess what I just did?"

"Pizza?"

The man was dry and unamused. The heart in his chest couldn't have been bigger than a poppy seed, and just as likely to get lodged in someone's lungs and kill them. (There was this thing where poppy seeds got stuck in lungs and grew, effectively choking the victim from the inside out. It was quite gruesome, and the only time Lea ever saw the man laugh.) Lea's boss was probably scowling right out of the womb.

"Extra sausage and peperoni kind."

"No pineapple?"

"Don't be disgusting, boss," Lea laughed incredulously. "I would never."

"Shame."

Deadpan. Lifeless. Sometimes, Lea thought the man was a robot.

"Anyhoo, I'm at the place and stuff. I tore through every shelf in here, but I don't see the book you were talking about."

Lea didn't appreciate being sent on a wild goose chase. He was more valuable than that, and it had given him a headache sifting through the thousands of titles. Reliable as he was, not a single shelf was left unturned. Dull blue light filtered through the closed curtains, a testimony to how long he'd been looking through the library.

The only thing soothing his ruffled feathers at the quality of the mission was that every inch of the library oozed filthy rich. Set in the east wing of an enormous manor on the outskirts of Radiant Garden proper, no one would notice if a few fine crystal ash trays went missing.

"I'm getting real sick and tired here, boss," said Lea, his smile turning a little less amused.

"Weren't you just ordering a pizza? You're sounding awfully upbeat for being so ill."

"Now ain't the time to develop a sense of humor."

"Apologies, then," said the man, honeyed and insincere, setting Lea's teeth on edge. "Have you checked the librarian? The book is small, personal. It'll be kept on him."

"Well, why didn'tcha say earlier?" said Lea, rolling his eyes. He swung his legs off the table, ambling across the room.

"I take it the librarian is already taken care of?"

"What d'you take me for? An amateur?"

Lea stepped over a pile of books, striding towards the body that lay in a puddle of sunlight, face caught in the tortured grimace of fear. The front of the man's smart suit jacket was rumbled and soaked in blood, his neck gashed clean open. He was left to bleed out, wisps of white hair stained pink.

"Ugh."

His eyes were yellowed and partially rolled back.

"That's nasty."

Rifling through the pockets was equally as unpleasant. The man had already gone cold.

"There you are," said Lea, hands closing around a thin book. "Success, boss. I've got the package."

"Good. Return."

The call ended with a click.

Lea rolled his eyes again at the phone, stuffing it in his back pocket. He stepped over the corpse of the librarian, not quite managing to avoid the splatter of blood on the floor. It stuck to the bottom of his foot.

It was a good day for pizza, indeed.

The walk from the city to the Radiant Mountain Range was an ambitious one, even on the best of days. On the rainy, gloomy days like the one Lea found himself trapped in, it was nothing short of misery. He wanted to be indoors, by a fire, or at the nearest shop browsing the wares, or testing out the new frisbee weapons he bought. No one thought frisbees could be weapons and Lea, being who he was, decided to prove them wrong.

Not only were his flaming discs weapons, but they were assassination-worthy. His latest target was along a path that lead right up to a towering waterfall. The cliffs were speckled with caves and hollows, perfect for snakes and any manner of other unpleasant creatures.

First, he had to deal with the bridge. It felt ten miles long, when in reality it was only around a tenth of that, and was exposed to the elements. By the time Lea reached the other side, he resembled a drowned rat, his clothes sticking to him. He pushed damp red locks out of his eyes, annoyance threatening to break through the thin veneer of calm. He was a professional, but even he had his limits. And rain was one of them.

"Send the fire guy out in the rain," he grumbled all the way up the path. "That's an idea. Hey, how about we send the dude with claustrophobia to take out the basement hermit in downtown? Seems like good logic. Man, fuck the boss."

The path crunched under his feet, rocks and roots tripping him at every bend. He was about as graceful as a newborn kitten. The trees whispered out a laugh in the breeze.

"They shoulda sent the lady scared of heights," said Lea as he the path narrowed around the mountainside, giving him a nice shot several tree-lengths down. He could see the wrinkles of a lake. "I hate nature."

Lea slowed as he neared the end of the path. Not a soul had been out—obviously, since it was raining and no one sane came out during the rain onto a treacherous and slippery mountain path—and there was only place for the target to be hiding left. They weren't without sense, it seemed. The gaping maw of a cave was cut into the cliffside, swallowing up the light.

The ground rumbled from the cascading falls, cool mists flying out and brushing Lea's hair back. He wiped moisture off his face, creeping into the cavern. A few steps farther into the cavern showed that it was not only lit quite well, but it was frequently host to visitors—or rather, one visitor.

Nor, Lea realized, was it silent. A keening sigh echoed down the cavern walls. He hurried his pace, the noise buried under the faint howl of wind.

Somewhere along the way, the wind turned into the lonely hum of a violin, smooth and high. He slowed despite himself. The music rolled with the wind, up and down and following some tune he'd never heard before, but resonated just right. It was like the chorus of a song he heard once and could never find again; the perfect sound.

He rounded the corner to meet his target.

Instead of a target, he was greeted by what could only be an angel.

Perched on a bolder, basked in light pouring through a break in the cavern ceiling, a boy swayed with the melody of his violin. Blue hair just touched the collar of his shirt, his trousers damp from the rain. For a moment, Lea didn't move, watching long fingers move along the neck of the violin.

The boy stopped abruptly, cutting off halfway through a high note that left Lea dithering at the entrance of the cave, undoubtedly caught.

"Who's there?"

Lea scurried out, grinning sheepishly. He looked up and regretted it, because the boy had green eyes like nothing he'd ever seen.

"Who are you?"

He tried to think of something cool and mysterious, only to blurt out, "I'm Lea—you play that really good."

Throwing himself off the waterfall sounded tempting.

"Thank you," said the boy, the smallest smile on his face. "I guess that makes up for some of the creepiness of watching me."

"I thought you'd stop if you saw me," said Lea, pouting spectacularly. "Which you did."

"Forgive me for being cautious," said the boy, falling into a banter that was too natural for comfort. Lea was half ready to call a tactical retreat. "I'm Isa."

"Isa," said Lea, rolling the name around his tongue, deciding Isa was not fair. He was pretty and talented, and even his voice was nice. "You know, I was fixing to kill with the rain the way it was, but that music kinda calmed me down."

A startled laugh escaped Isa's lips.

"You're an odd one," he said, and then fiddled with the edge of his turtleneck shirt. It had to be stiflingly hot in that. "Would you like to hear another song?"

Lea pulled himself up on the boulder, flashing a grin that was all teeth.

"I'd like nothing else!"


End file.
